Scott: Quebec’s best-kept secret

10 Screenwriters to Watch 2012: Ken Scott

Long feted in his native Quebec, Scott is now setting his sights on Hollywood. The writer-director’s breakthrough hit, last year’s French-language feature “Starbuck,” a comedy about a man-child who, via his frequent sperm donations, has fathered 533 children, soon earned the filmmaker some south-of-the-border attention. After shopping this hot property around the Hollywood studios with an eye on a remake, Scott found a willing partner in DreamWorks.

“We thought they were a great match to bring the story to American culture,” he says. As a result, he landed the job of helming the film himself, with Vince Vaughn in the lead role. The remake, known as “The Delivery Man,” is in production.

In addition, the Scott-penned 2004 Sundance World Cinema audience prize-winning “Seducing Doctor Lewis” is also being remade for English-speaking audiences featuring yet another script by the rising star.

But while his work as a screenwriter — and, increasingly, as a director — seem to be gaining traction, Scott says there are few forms of performance at which he hasn’t dabbled at one point or another. In fact, he credits his background in standup comedy and improv — the latter with his erstwhile group, Les Bizarroides — for paving the way for his film success.

“It’s a great way to connect, to communicate with an audience and see how they react to different ideas,” he says, explaining how he was able to apply this direct form of feedback to the shaping of ideas for his screenplays. Whatever the method is, it’s working, as American film audiences are only now beginning to get a taste of one of Quebec’s best-kept secrets.